2016 Loan Fund Success Story

The NCALL Loan Fund has seen a dramatic increase in the demand for its affordable housing financing products This is especially true of the for-sale housing, with requests to finance the construction of this type of housing hitting a record high in fiscal year 2016. The demand has occurred as affordable housing developers have increased their production goals after a brief slow down caused by the housing collapse during the recession. These developers are seeking Loan Fund financing in large numbers, resulting in the Fund closing on 19 housing loans totalling more than $7 million and resulting in 92 homes for sale in fiscal year 2016.

The Loan Fund's housing portfolio was $17 million at the close of fiscal year 2016, marking the largest balance for this sector in the Loan Fund's history. The volume of outstanding loans receivable for affordable housing even eclipsed that of the community facilities portfolio, the first time since fiscal year 2012.

"We engage in projects that are categorized a risky. NCALL staff helps us to manage that risk and work through it. It's great to work with a lender that understands and appreciates its customers' needs."

Six affordable housing developers received financing from the Loan Fund in 2016, including three first-time borrowers. These borrowers developed a variety of affordable housing projects, increasing the critical supply of homes in each county in the state of Delaware. The projects included urban and rural housing, scattered site and multi-unit, and fee simple and leasehold ownership. New borrowers included Inter-Neighborhood Foundation of Wilmington (eight homes) and Cornerstone West CDC (six homes), both of which are developing their homes as part of neighborhood revitalization plans on Wilmington's Upper Eastside and West Side, respectively.

Also developing homes in Wilmington is Interfaith Community Housing of Delaware, a nonprofit and frequent Loan Fund borrower, that is currently constructing 12 homes within the Creative District of Wilmington's Downtown Development District (DDD). Interfaith's homes are designed to attract buyers that are creative entrepreneurs (e.g. artists, musicians, artisans), which is part of a national wave of placemaking initiatives to promote a community development. These homes are being developed from buildings that are all vacant or abandoned within Wilmington's historic district. They will be serving single individuals or families with up to 120% of the area median income.

According to Interfaith's Executive Director, Gary Polio, "We could have gone to other places looking for the money for this project, but we have a long history of working with the Loan Fund. We knew that with the type of financing and the terms we were looking for, the Loan Fund would be the best place to go. We engage in projects that are categorized as risky. NCALL's staff help us to manage that risk and work through it. It's great to work with a lender that understands and appreciates its customer's needs."

Another important nonprofit developer is Diamond State Community Land Trust (DSCLT). A previous borrower providing affordable homes in Kent County, DSCLT developed its first homes in Sussex County in 2016 with financing from the Loan Fund. DSCLT utilizes the "forever affordable" land trust model of homeownership. Under this model, the homeowner owns the home but leases the land from DSCLT, resulting in significantly lower monthly housing payments. The home pictured above is located at Ingram Village subdivision in Ellendale, DE.